The Belmont is my favorite Triple Crown race. I enjoy horse races of 1 and one-half miles or more (just as I think a boxing championship match should be 15 rounds). Of course, since I am neither a race horse nor a professional prizefighter, that's easy for me to say.

I also believe that tennis went downhill when 7-6 sets were allowed, instead of requiring the winner of a set to win at least 6 games and be at least two games ahead.

Hi, all. I'm on the road in Dayton, Indiana, to celebrate a niece graduating high school as one of 11 (!) valedictorians. Missed recent posts.
Haven't read all the "children" thread yet, but regarding bring kids with wrinkles, I wrote this editorial: (not sure how to iPad encapsulate it but it is also LUN)

Subject: Terrorist groups call for kidnapping of westerners and in particular U.S. Military members, combined with the recent release of U.S. Army Sgt Bergdhal increase the threat of kidnappings of military personnel.

The letter mentions that Al-Qaeda leaders (Zawahiri) encourage the kidnapping of Americans for the purpose of prisoner exchange and mentions Gilat Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured by Hamas and released in exchange for 1,000 prisoners, before specifically identifying the release of SGT Bergdhal in exchange for 5 Taliban prisoners as potentially signaling to terrorists that kidnapping a soldier may increase the opportunity for release of American held prisoners.

BTW, rse deserves credit for her thoughts and phrasing about college and career ready being someone else's definition of useful. Couldn't give credit in the editorial but figured she'd rather have the thought broadcast.

Where is the sane foreign policy wing of either party?
The Dems are almost universally limp wristed pansies who detest American power and/or America while the right is either neo-con, nation-building interventionists or isolationist Rand Paulians.

Isn't there anyone in DC who thinks our military power should be massively greater than our enemys' but reserved only for truly defending the nation and when it is used is used in an overwhelming method to utterly destroy our enemies and then withdraw so they can build their own wretched nation into a cowed one that has learned its lesson?

Well everything is cyclical, there was a wave of direct interventions, in the '10 and '20s of the last century, in Latin America, mostly for commercial reasons, the longest in Nicaragua, seven years, Haiti, fifteen years,

IMHO, it is not our interventions that are the problem but, what happens when we leave. Far too often at the time of our departures, the expectations raised by our intervention is far outweighed by the results.

We leave far too soon for the fragile institutions that we try to create to really be effective. The fragile governments that are left to continue on any progress are too easily corrupted, opening the door for other competing ideologies to undue any progress achieved.

This is especially true in Latin America, where the lack of any true democratic institution and extreme poverty, left a fragile ground for opposing ideas promising and ideal, populist and economic system of governance.

The same can be said of many African nations and Indochina, though many were compounded by religious and tribal strife, as well.

An heirloom bronze elephant with ivory tusks, great-grandmother's piano with ivory keys, a vintage ivory chess set or an antique silver teapot with a small ivory inset in the handle to keep it cool may be "endangered" by proposed laws that could be in place sometime in June. Buying, selling or importing ivory from recently killed African elephants already is illegal and has been for about 25 years.

But an executive order issued by President Barack Obama would extend the ban to include all antique ivory harvested from elephants that died before 1914...

...If indeed you learned anything during your college career, it's a good bet that it will soon be discredited and superseded as we pursue the mirage called human knowledge. Learning is one of the few really innocent pleasures, but it's always radically incomplete. "Graduation" is a delusion, because it tries to convert a process into a moment of accomplishment, and thus teaches the wrong lesson.

So here's my advice to you eager and innocent - or bored and corrupt - young people. Deal with the world as it is and yourself as you are. It is even possible to love the world in all its gigantic, irritating imperfection. Existence really does have its beautiful aspects. Even its flaws and even its horrors have a compelling quality, because they're real and not just something someone made up.

Back from a big walk and cultural experience for Frederick and Mrs. JiB and Me. Although I have been to Venice 4 times previoiusly (can you believe on business:), I have never seen it like the walks Rick Steves provided for me on my iPad. Not big details but we walked to Rialto on in interesting tour and then to Frari on a more interesting tour.

Took a Gondola experience for Frederick which dropped us off on the Grand Canal to make our way back "sans carta" to San Marco where we are in our hotel on the same canal as the Bridge of Sighs.

Now wer are back in the hotel draining and getting ready for our dinner on San Marco square to the music of one of the restaurant orchestras. I passed one with a baritone clarinet which is one beautiful instrument in the right hands. I think we try that one in an hour or two.

Become and remain aware of the fact that you yourself and everyone that you love will someday die.

Try not to lie more than you really have to, especially to yourself. If you hear yourself whining and bitching, shut up. Instead, play. Remember that you're a mammal, and if you get the chance or the choice, reproduce. The act itself is enjoyable and children tend to have a good effect on adults, giving them a tiny embodiment of hope, happiness, play, pain, fear, truth.

In conclusion, fellow chumps, instead of pretending that if you dream of jumping over the moon you really will, try to learn to love the earth and the people around you a little more than you do now, even though they, like you, are fundamentally and irremediably flawed.

The entire, short speech should be handed out with the (overrated) diploma.

Glad the weather will be nice for the Belmont. If I can remember correctly from several weeks ago, California Chrome seemed to have plenty of gas at the end of the first two legs. I'd love to see him win the Triple Crown today - I think it would be great for the sport.

Saw the movie "Lone Survivor" last night and thought it was made very well although horribly sad to see those brave men mowed down by barbarian Taliban.

Had a fantasy after about how one could do a 'Clockwork Orange' on Obummer to make him watch that movie with his eyes pried open over and over until it was embedded in his little mind that Talibs are not to be dealt with ever.

You know, I am not a huge sports fan. Indianapolis doesn't have a major league baseball team nor a major league hockey team, I just cannot get into NBA basketball, and the NFL is sort of turning into big business.

It just is absolutely annoying as heck that the ONLY sports I actively turn on, the Olympics and the Triple Crown, are destroyed by Bob Costas!

Great, JiB, the snarc review of Carlos Slim, Nordland who's been nabbed a few times says there
is 'nothing to see here' in Qatar, Susan Rice, is back on Mark 'Tiger Beat' Landler's trapper keeper, and Peter Baker is trying to make sense of
the Volodya and the Champ get together, they couldn't pay me enough.

A Reuters poll, has 44% against the swap, and 29% for, with 27% not sure,

So LaBron James fagged out during the playoff game, and Gatorade tweeted that he should have been drinking Gatorade instead of Powerade (which he endorses). Yet, it appears that he was actually drinking Gatorade on the sidelines, with the label peeled off.

Shouldn't that violate his contract with Powerade? Would any self-respecting contract lawyer leave that loophole open?

Attention Kelly Wright, the owners of California Chrhome did not buy him for $8000. They bought his MOTHER for 8 grand, then bred her to a stallion with discounted stud fees, $1000 if I remember correctly. The colt from that union was California Chrome.

I make no apologies for it. It was a unanimous decision among my principals in my government, and a view that was shared by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This is something I would do again and will continue to do whenever I have an opportunity.

Wouldn't the Muzzies have to kidnap someone in order to give our leader the opportunity he seeks?

Thoughts from Harry S. Truman for the people of Worcester--along with a "Dissent is Patriotic" T shirt:

“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear."

[Special Message to the Congress on the Internal Security of the United States, August 8, 1950]”
― Harry S. Truman

TK, were I a cynical boy, I'd assume that law was enacted to permit the authorities to enter nearly every home to check for contraband.

Yeah, pretty much. That, and to instantly make thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of American citizens criminals.

And, worse, criminals who will have no defense, because - if these new regs are like so many recent criminal laws and regs, there'll be no requirement for mens rea, or even knowledge of the law itself.

Ext, on the relabeling & Labron. The marketing people don't care what he actually drinks. For example, Nike provided the shoes for our college soccer team. Most of us wore Adidas because the Nike shoes sucked (screw in cleats where the sockets punched through the sole). No big deal, except for when we played the ESPN game of the week. Then Nike marketing would show up, paint the stripes on our shoes black, and apply swoosh decals. Image is everything, not substance. (The next year they had a British firm -- Mitre -- make a run of shoes with Nike markings, outstanding footwear).

WASHINGTON DC - Today in a ceremony in the Rose Garden President Obama announced that, unlike his predecessor George W. Bush, he had traded for Sammy Sosa. In exchange for Sosa, the president sent Mike Trout, Yasiel Puig, Yoenis Cespedes, Miguel Cabrera, and Buster Posey to Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana.

The ceremony sparked some controversy, as GOP operatives goaded former teammates of Sosa to come forward to criticize the trade after the fact. Some former Cubs alleged that Sosa was perhaps a mediocre talent who relied on PEDs to excel at baseball. The administration was quick to point out that the Cubs of that era were “short on leadership, and long on psychopaths.”

Other critics pointed out that Sosa is kind of old, and perhaps the value equation of the trade wasn’t in the nation’s best interest. These people are racists, who obviously would question anything the administration might do.

There was one awkward moment in the Rose Garden as the president stepped aside and turned the podium over to Mr. Sosa, who then pretended to not speak English.

GMax (autocorrected to Hamas -- Yike!!!), I wore Puma through high school and always liked the shoes. Freshman year at college was free Adidas before Nike swooshed in the next year. The Mitre's were in a class by themselves, very light weight, like a pair of socks with screw in cleats.

Yeah the quality of most things Nike makes are not great. Especially their shoes.

I run hot and cold and the output of Phil "Just Go to Hell Do It" Knight's sweat shops factories. The ones I wear strictly to play hoops give me good support for a long time. The ones I use for walking fall apart quicker than they should.

China is looking to expand its biggest installation in the Spratly Islands into a fully formed artificial island, complete with airstrip and sea port, to better project its military strength in the South China Sea,

Don't they know Global Warming's going to raise the Sea Level and drown the whole thing?

The only explanation I can think of for the inappropriate grabbiness is that the Dems must have spent 8 years stung with jealousy over Bush's easy rapport with patriotic military families. This is just the family Obama feels more comfortable with.

Thank you, hit. I remember watching the RG ceremony and being struck by how physically cozy he was with her. Seeing the pics has just reinforced my 1st impression. Holding hands with her? Wow! When have we ever seen him holding hands with any one else other than MO?

June 22, 2009:“There’s no thought to rescinding the invitations to Iranian diplomats,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.

June 24, 2009:On Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who had authorized diplomatic posts earlier this month to invite Iranians to their Independence Day parties, sent out a cable rescinding the invitations.

This morning in the throne room I was flipping thru pages in my copy of Darwin's Beagle Diary when I came upon this:

15 April, 1835: Started for Valparaiso, was 2 days and a half on the road endeavoring to geologize---

17th: At Valparaiso I waived with my good friend McCorfield--on the 23rd the Beagle called off the port.---I went on board.(1) The survey of the coast to the South was concluded & in the evening the Beagle continued her progress to Coquimbo.

The (1) has this footnote:

(1)Fitzroy wrote: "At noon, on the 23rd, we hove-to off Valparaiso, and sent boats ashore. Mr Darwin came on board and among other pieces of good news, told me of my promotion. I asked about Mr Stokes and Lieut. Wickham, especially the former; but nothing had been heard of their exertions having obtained any satisfactory notice at head-quarters, which much diminished the gratification I might otherwise have felt on my own account, See Narrative 2: 425. Fitzroy had held the rank of Commander since 1828 and now became a full Captain in rank as well as title.

I post this for fans of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin Series. I just finished up book 20 in that series and what young Darwin does here, the exact route, the geologizing, the delivering of the news of Fitzroy's promotion, the concern for the Junior Officers, is all straight out of Patrick O'Brian's novel, and is the actions pretty much of Steven Maturin.

It really is fun trying to figure out where O'Brian got his ideas and his info, and anyone who spends time browsing Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle or his Beagle Diary will feel certain that O'Brian had these books open on his table while pounding out these excellent adventures.

Last night, on the "Listen To The Children" thread, Rick asked whether the former members of his platoon could bring charges against Bergdahl under the UCMJ. I responded with an extended quote from Article 30 which provides that anyone "subject to this Chapter" may bring such charges. I couldn't recall whether reservists met that definition. The answer is that it is arguable that any reservist on active or inactive duty for training meets the definition, although I have not checked the case law:

Article 2

(a) The following persons are subject to this chapter:

(1) Members of a regular component of the armed forces, including ...other persons lawfully called or ordered into, or to duty in or for training in, the armed forces, from the dates when they are required by the terms of the call or order to obey it.

there's a series of spy/mystery tales by a fellow named 'Stone, David' who was some sort of operator,
set in Harry's Bar, with the Arsenale, St. Mark's Square, the Murano district, now it's been about four years since his last, so he might be 'Norwegian Blue' for all we know,

On pre-catch-up and TV this morning I see the President is now saying that he didn't notify Congress because he was afraid that Congress would leak the news of the trade.

I'd like to know:

1) Who specifically in Congress he thought might do the leaking?

2) Leak to whom?

The Taliban would not have cared if it was leaked, nor the Haquanni's, nor the guys in QATAR. He has told us that his Military and Political advisors were on board with the swap so they wouldn't have minded. And the President has also shown us, via his Rose Garden actions and his spokespeople, that he thought the swap was going to be received "with Euphoria."

So all that said, who was he worried in Congress would leak the swap, and to whom? If everybody was on board and "euphoric" about this great deal, what's to worry about?

Everything Obama does is political and everything he says is a lie. There was ample time to go to Congress, but he wanted to stage something related to ending the war and he did not want to have to report that there were massive, bi-partisan objections to releasing these prisoners. Serendipitously, Bergdhal’s parents were near the Rose Garden, so—why not grab a mother around the waist and hear those beautiful words from Dad?

It was never about Bergdhal. It was, as always, about Obama. And politics.

If you like bass clarinet, I strongly recommend you get your hand on a CD ( or even better yet the EP 45 rpm 200 gram chunk of some of the best Vinyl EVER created) by a band called Sera Una Noche (like the tango).

The title is also Sera Una Noche circa 2000. This was recorded in Argentina, mostly in a small church on a monastery. Recording was done by my buddy Todd Garfinkle who is world renown for direct recording (no mixes, nothing but the way the guys or gals played it) of acoustic music.

The guy playing clarinets is a something else, as is the bandaneon player.

Employees were discouraged from taking notes in meetings. Workers’ emails were examined once a year for sensitive information that might be used against the company. G.M. lawyers even kept their knowledge of fatal accidents related to a defective ignition switch from their own boss, the company’s general counsel, Michael P. Millikin.

An internal investigation released on Thursday into the company’s failure to recall millions of defective small cars found no evidence of a cover-up. But interviews with victims, their lawyers and current and former G.M. employees, as well as evidence in the report itself, paint a more complete picture: The automaker’s legal department took actions that obscured the deadly flaw, both inside and outside the company.

While Mr. Millikin survived the dismissals this week of 15 G.M. employees tied to the delayed recall, his department was hit hard.

At least three senior lawyers are among the employees who lost their jobs as a result of the investigation conducted by the former United States attorney Anton R. Valukas.